Alcoholism Support Group

Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.

Step 3

As Step 2 creats discord Step three creates FLAT P...ed off. I'm not sure folks understand the premise behind this step or the 12 as a whole. Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob were originally members of the Oxford Group. Founded by a Lutheran Minister the group offered a 4 Step program meant to bring people to "Salvation" and repentence. Bill W., an agnostic, struggled with this idea. His "Spiritual Awakening", the white light, was actually attributed to the use of Belladonna, a hallucinagetic (among other things) prescibed and given to him during one of his stays in hospital.. Dr. Silkworth told him to not discount the experience. When Bill and Dr. Bob met they decided the Oxford group Steps were to difficult, especially the one about moral purity. They realized that there were to diverse a population of drunks out there. Some not believing at all and more who blamed God for their lot in life. They revamped the Steps to allow people to formulate there OWN idea of a Higher Power.

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God AS WE UNDERSTAND Him.
To me the key word is decision. We have decided that what was Honestly stated in Step 1, Openmindedly accepted in Step 2. must be Willingly followed through with. (H.O.W). Understanding that SELF will run riot was why we kept stumbling. We remember our lives have been ruined and, at least for a time, we need to seek new direction. What better place than from a Group Of Drunks willing to offer Good Orderly Direction. (G.O.D., G.O.D.). Though I had a concept of God it was somewhat confused.
My mom was Catholic, my Dad Methodist, we went to a Presbertyrian(sp) Church and I got sent to V.B.S every summer at the Baptist Temple in the next town. I believed in A God but was confused by the differing dogma. I was so sick that the Bible I took to the first treatment center I stole and then used a (note) page to twist up a joint INSIDE the 2nd treatment center.
Once I "came to" I began to hear GOD speak to me through the people in the room. Over a time I bgan to notice other things happening as well. The first thing I noticed was I wasn't getting in trouble any more. That was because I had surrendered my will and was seeking His. Surrender... quit fighting and join the winners. MY LIFE had changed.

So much has happened in my life I cannot help but see a Hand in it. To much for me to write or for ya'll to read lol. More to come.

Nop2day, your will is your mind and your thinking.Your life is the sum of your actions. So my life was controlled by my self-centered will. I destroyed my life and everybody around me.
I could not see how accepting a HP could make my life any worse. I made a decision to accept somethig more powerful than me, and followed it by vigirous actions and honesty.
Once again, I borrowed my sponsor's God, said the 3rd step prayer and I was off to the races. I am one of the &quot;slow&quot; physcic change cats.. More is revealed on a daily basis.

When I was new in AA I asked an old priest friend of mine ,who was not himself an alcoholic but very familiar with our program, what doing the third step meant practical terms, as he understood it.

&quot;That easy,&quot; said my friend, using his hands to draw an arc in the air at arm's length out from his chest, &quot;Do what's in front of you. And oh yes, one more thing-- what happens next in your life is none of your business.&quot;

DETACHMENT is the term used to describe this process of letting go of self-will and learning to rely on Higher-power. The concept behind it is summed up in such phrases as:

Let go, let God
Thy will, not mine, be done
We provide the effort, God supplies the results
This to shall pass
Say a prayer and detach from the outcome
Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing
Be still, know that I am God

To be spiritually reborn and live in a state of grace, the Oxford Group advocated four practices set out below:[14] 1. The sharing of our sins and temptations with another Christian life given to God, and to use Sharing as Witness, to help others, still unchanged, to recognize and acknowledge their sins. 2. Surrender our life past, present and future, into God's keeping and direction. 3. Restitution to all whom we have wronged directly or indirectly. 4. Listening to and requiring God's Guidance, and carrying it out in everything we do and say, great or small.

In 1934, Ebby Thatcher, childhood friend of Bill Wilson's, was about to be locked up as a chronic drunk in Bennington, Vermont. He was visited by three men from an Oxford Group; Shep Cornell, Rowland Hazard, and Cebra Graves. (A precursor to our Twelve Step work!) They later sent Rowland Hazard back alone to see Ebby. He acted as a sort of sponsor and told his story. He taught Ebby the precepts he had learned from the Oxford Group. Later, as we know, in December of that year, Ebby had his chance to relay these precepts to Bill Wilson. Here they are, transcribed from a tape of one of Bill's AA talks:

We admitted we were licked.
We got honest with ourselves.
We talked it over with another person.
We made amends to those we had harmed.
We tried to carry this message to others with no thought of reward.
We prayed to whatever God we thought there was

As I was typing that about the coffee I started thinking that I like feeling Up! What beer does to me is an Up. What coffee does to me is an Up. I need to take better care of myself and get some good vitamins!

i know i said i would not comment on your topic ........but the adjective i am...........i have a different point of view.......&quot;Curtis&quot; doesn't want you to kneel to His will.......He and i have had this discussion........He wants you to fight for heart..........oh....and heres a hint.......your heart is His. looking at life throw snake eyes means nothing.....cherish the simple things.....they often go unnoticed......i may be weak in many aspects of life.......but i do know we all carry a pocket full of smiles.......and pay no attention to the pot at the end of the rainbow.........i found mine......and i had to flush it.

Sorry, I had to do this was one of my assignments leading up to the third step. My sponsor had me personalize these paragraphs and this was so wierd cuz I could see myself.

BB pg 60-61
Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him. Just what do we mean by that, and just what do we do?
The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great. Everybody, including himself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful. In trying to make these arrangements our actor may sometimes be quite virtuous. He may be kind, considerate, patient, generous; even modest and self-sacrificing. On the other hand, he may be mean, egotistical, selfish and dishonest. But, as with most humans, he is more likely to have varied traits.
What usually happens? The show doesnt come off very well. He begins to think life doesnt treat him right. He decides to exert himself more. He becomes, on the next occasion, still more demanding or gracious, as the case may be. Still the play does not suit him. Admitting he may be somewhat at fault, he is sure that other people are more to blame. He becomes angry, indignant, self-pitying. What is his basic trouble? Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be kind? Is he not a victim of the delusion that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if he only manages well? Is it not evident to all the rest of the players that these are the things he wants? And do not his actions make each of them wish to retaliate, snatching all they can get out of the show? Is he not, even in his best moments, a producer of confusion rather than harmony?

This was an eye-opener for me. Reminded me of the ways in which I seek control over people, places and things. What do you think?

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